Sudais opened the car door and stepped out, looking at her.
“Come down.”
She came out slowly, her heart pounding. He walked toward the house gate and she followed behind him timidly.
At first, the gatekeeper Usman stopped him to ask who he was looking for. But when he saw Khadijah, he rushed forward in surprise.
“Khadijah?”
She forced a smile and greeted him.
Sudais had already entered the compound, and Khadijah followed him.
Usman said,
“You’ve made everyone worried. They’ve been searching for you everywhere—even the police station. Hajiya reported your disappearance. Alhamdulillah that you’ve been found.”
Khadijah said nothing. She looked toward the parking area. Her heart beat harder when she noticed Aliyu’s car and his mother’s car were not there.
Sudais pressed the doorbell of the house entrance gently. He rang it three times before the door opened.
Aunty Khadijah stood at the door. It was obvious she had been sleeping.
Her eyes widened when she saw Khadijah standing beside Sudais, looking frightened.
Sudais guessed immediately that she must be Aunty Khadijah.
“Assalamu alaikum,” he greeted.
She replied coldly,
“Wa alaikum salam.”
Then she turned to Khadijah.
“What’s the matter? Where did you come from? Who are you looking for?”
Sudais replied,
“We are looking for Aliyu.”
Then he walked straight into the living room.
Khadijah hesitated outside because of fear.
Sudais looked at her and said,
“Come in.”
Slowly she entered.
He was already seated on a chair.
Aunty Khadijah stared at him in disbelief.
“This is a family house. Who exactly are you looking for?”
He replied calmly,
“That’s why I greeted before entering.”
She said impatiently,
“What business do you have with Aliyu?”
Sudais replied,
“If he isn’t home, please call him. And his mother—she’s around, right?”
Aunty Khadijah frowned and snapped,
“I’m his mother! And Aliyu isn’t even in the country right now. If you have something to say, say it quickly. I was sleeping before you disturbed me.”
Sudais remained silent briefly. Then he pointed to Khadijah.
“Do you know this girl?”
She glared at Khadijah and replied harshly:
“Of course I know her. She’s the house help we hired some time ago. She ruined our household and tried to seduce my son. She separated him from me while I watched helplessly. Even after she left this house, the damage she caused has not been repaired. Allah will judge between us.”
Khadijah began crying quietly and knelt down where she stood.
Sudais wiped his face with a handkerchief and said to her,
“Stop crying and explain things to her yourself.”
Aunty Khadijah rushed toward them angrily.
“Explain what?”
Khadijah kept wiping her tears.
Suddenly Aunty Khadijah burst into wicked laughter.
Then she stopped and glared at Sudais.
“So you brought her here to tell us she’s pregnant?”
Sudais replied calmly,
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Khadijah bent forward crying helplessly.
Aunty Khadijah laughed loudly again.
Then suddenly she stopped and pointed at the door.
“Since it’s just the three of us here, get out of my house!”
Sudais smirked slightly.
“Your shouting won’t scare me, madam.”
She snapped angrily,
“I’ll show you that it works here. This prostitute wants to attach her bastard pregnancy to my son because she’s poor.”
Sudais replied calmly,
“That’s easy. Let’s go to the hospital and check how many weeks pregnant she is. If it matches the time your son drove her away from this house, then the child is his.”
Aunty Khadijah fell silent.
Only then did she realize Aliyu was actually the one who chased Khadijah away.
Sudais continued,
“I brought her here for two reasons. First—to confirm whether she was telling the truth. Second—to let you and your son understand the pain you’ve caused an innocent orphan. I know very well you will never accept this pregnancy.”
He looked at her seriously.
“You’ve taken away the only happiness she had in this world. You’ve stained her reputation in a way that might never be erased.”
Then he said firmly:
“But I want you to know something. Just as this orphan has said goodbye to happiness, your family will also know no peace. Especially Aliyu. He will never find peace with the rights of this orphan hanging over him.”
He stepped closer and showed her his ID card.
“Barrister Aliyu Umar. Or simply Sudais.”
He dropped his business card on the table.
Aunty Khadijah tore it to pieces and threw it on the floor.
Sudais simply smiled.
Then he turned to Khadijah.
“Let’s go.”
She stood up slowly and followed him, wiping her tears.
They returned to the car.
He drove silently for a long time.
Khadijah kept crying with her head on her knees.
After some time he stopped near a mosque, prayed, drank water, and continued driving.
Late at night they arrived in Kano.
He took her to a hotel.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll go to your stepmother’s house.”
She looked at him in fear.
He opened her room door and said,
“Try to pray. Eat something, take a bath, and sleep.”
Then he went to his own room.
---
The Next Morning
Sudais went to her stepmother’s house.
But when he asked about her, the neighbors said:
Hajiya Amina had already left the area two days earlier after her husband divorced her.
She had sold her belongings and returned to her country.
They said she was not even Nigerian.
Sudais returned to the car looking troubled.
Khadijah asked softly through tears:
“Is my mother still angry with me?”
He looked at her quietly.
Then he said gently:
“Your stepmother is gone.”
She looked at him in shock.
“Where?”
He replied,
“She returned to her country.”
Khadijah began crying again.
Sudais sighed deeply.
“You need to face reality now, Khadijah. Crying won’t change anything.”
She tried to stop crying but couldn’t.
Sudais himself was deeply troubled.
He didn’t know what to do with her.
He didn’t know where to take her.
He didn’t know where she belonged.
---
Later on the Road
While driving, they stopped at a fuel station.
The smell of petrol made Khadijah suddenly nauseous.
She rushed out of the car and began vomiting badly.
People nearby helped her.
Sudais held his head in frustration and thought:
“I’m really in trouble now.”
Afterward they continued their journey.
Khadijah fell asleep from exhaustion.
Eventually they arrived at Sudais’s house.
He gave her a room and told her to rest.
She slept immediately.
Later when she woke up, she prayed and cried for a long time.
Sudais knocked and entered with food.
“Have you been crying all this time?”
She nodded.
He asked gently,
“Why are you crying?”
She collapsed into tears.
“I have no one now… I don’t even know if I have any purpose in this life…”
Sudais knelt beside her and said softly:
“No. You do have a purpose, Amira. Don’t ever say you have no one.”
Then he asked,
“Don’t you trust Allah?”
She wiped her tears and replied,
“I do.”
He smiled slightly.
“Then have faith in Him.”
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